Teammates
by SweetDragonSeeker
Summary: They are teammates, after all, and aren't they supposed to look out for each other? (Five times fic)


**Don't own it. **

**So apparently five-times fics are a thing with me lately. Random yuffentine. Partly inspired by a conversation between me and a friend about how Yuffie is a good character to have (she's always in my party when I play 7) but how she's also a 'glass canon' as my friend put it. Enjoy. **

**SSS**

The first time it happens, it feels like an obligation. They are teammates, after all, and aren't they supposed to look out for each other? So, when the need arises, Vincent steps in, as is expected. He raises his pistol and fires a bullet straight between the beast's eyes before turning back to his own battle, not even pausing to see her response. A second later, a shuriken slices open his foe-beast's neck, accompanied by a furious shriek that lets him know exactly what she thought of his interference. He turns from the carcass of his opponent to find her scowling, cheeks red with exertion and fury and cold.

"I didn't need your help." Yuffie snaps, though the blood flowing down her arm belies the words. Then she turns and stalks away, leaving him to follow. Later, when she crouches beside the fire with her hand cradling her shoulder and refuses to look at him, he will realize that part of the color in her cheeks was shame.

_SSS_

The second time is a complete accident. He may be able to see through Galian's eyes, but he can't control him, and the beast doesn't like the sound of Yuffie's cries. Vincent has been trying to let her fight her own battles, trying to avoid the embarrassed scarlet splashes high on her cheekbones, but Galian has no such qualms, and her opponent is the first one to fall beneath the demon's claws. She stands behind him, breathing hard, and this time her face is pale with no hint of red.

When the battle is over, she scolds the beast just as she did him, but there's a touch of warmth that wasn't in her eyes before, and in the corner of the demon's mind to which he's been relegated Vincent wonders why it is that she seems to prefer the monster to the man.

_SSS_

It's a necessity the third time it happens, that he get to her in time, because she's folding, crumbling, all her energy focused on defending rather than attacking. He doesn't hesitate this time, and steps in between her and her enemy, a chant burning his tongue as an orb of materia glows white-hot in its slot on his rifle. He will apologize later, he thinks, but for now all that matters is the fire singeing the roof of his mouth and devouring her attacker. He's so focused on his spell that he almost doesn't feel her fall against his back, fingers curling in the shoulders of his mantle to keep herself upright, and when he does, the fire seems to sear all the hotter behind his teeth.

When the spell is finished and the enemy a pile of ash, he stands stock-still, feeling her fingers shake in his cloak as the chill of the air begins to seep back into his bones, chasing out the fire. They're still standing together when the others finally find them, and Tifa has to pull Yuffie away from him to get her to sit down beside the newly kindled fire. Neither of them say a word, but when the night is fallen and the fire crackles softly in the midst of the snow, she raises her head and gives him a nod. He returns the gesture, and that night he stays awake, tending the fire and wondering what has changed that the warmth she showed to Galian now shines as bright for him.

_SSS_

The fourth time scares him, because it isn't really him who does it. He's learned that he can trust Galian with her, but Chaos and he have never been as connected as he is with the other three, and he's never sure what the greatest of his demons will do. So when he watches through Chaos' eyes as Yuffie tumbles off the edge of the cliff, he's sure it will be the last time he will ever see the ninja. Then the demon growls and dives over the cliff's edge himself, wings tucked in close. They find the ninja clinging to the one outcrop protruding from the otherwise sheer cliff, and for a moment the demon pauses, observing her with yellow eyes. She turns her head as he hovers beside her, and opens her mouth, no doubt to make some smart-ass comment, and Chaos moves, cold hands seizing the girls' shoulders, and a moment later they're back at the top of the cliff. Chaos releases his grip on her the moment they're safe, and a moment later he relinquishes his form as well, and by the time Yuffie sits up from where he dropped her in the dust, it's Vincent who's lying beside her.

He doesn't move as his body finishes acclimating to his human form, but she scoots close to him and leans down, and he smirks a bit at the words she murmurs in his ear, though they are not meant for him.

"Ninjas can climb." It's a tacit thanks, and in the back of his mind, Chaos nods, smiling without moving his lips. Vincent closes his eyes and says the words the demon can't.

"You are welcome."

_SSS_

The fifth time, he's late. Almost too late, and by the time he reaches her she's fighting through a sheet of blood and clenched teeth.

"'Bout time, monster man," She hisses, and he nods, raising his gun. It's the first time she's ever admitted to needing his help, and though the words are teasing, he can hear the relief that dwells beneath the flippant surface.

"Forgive me; next time I will acquire a watch."

She snorts, jaw clenched in concentration as she swings her shuriken past his side, then rolls beneath his outstretched arm, rising just in time to catch the weapon before it impacts his nose. A blast of magic hits them both then, and she stumbles. He raises his gun over her shoulder and fires. One of their opponents shrieks, and then magic is once more swirling over his tongue; this time, though, it leaves the tingling feeling of frost, rather than the burn of flame. Yuffie joins him, her own magic a bitter swirl of poison, and the moment the spells are complete she buckles, catching herself on his gauntlet. Their enemies shriek and implode, splattering them with blood and something else that neither one of them cares to investigate, and he sheaths his gun before moving his good hand to her face, swiping a thumb across her cheek and smearing the drops of blood on her skin. She's pale beneath the bloody sheen, and he wonders how much of the blood is hers. She gives him a lopsided smile and pulls something out of her pocket, dangling it before his eyes.

"No excuses next time."

He hides a smile behind his collar and accepts the watch, wrapping the chain around his fist.

"None."

**SSS**

**Review. No flames. ~Seeker**


End file.
